Snowden Seeks Russia Asylum as Activists Meet Him at Airport

Fugitive U.S. ex-security contractor
Edward Snowden asked to stay in Russia after summoning human
rights activists to a Moscow airport where he’s been stranded
for almost three weeks.

Snowden, 30, who exposed classified U.S. programs that
collect telephone and Internet data, said the U.S. and its
European allies are blocking him from reaching asylum in Latin
America, according to a statement posted on the website of the
anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.

“I ask for your assistance in requesting guarantees of
safe passage from the relevant nations in securing my travel to
Latin America, as well as requesting asylum in Russia until such
time as these states accede to law and my legal travel is
permitted,” he told representatives of local and international
rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights
Watch.

Snowden, whose presence in Russia has heightened tensions
with the U.S., has been in Sheremetyevo Airport’s transit area
since June 23. He’s been seeking asylum around the world as U.S.
authorities press for his return to face prosecution. Venezuela,
Nicaragua and Bolivia have indicated they’d be willing to take
him.

His previous request for asylum in Russia was withdrawn 24
hours later after President Vladimir Putin insisted Snowden stop
“anti-American” activities.

‘Propaganda Platform’

In Washington, White House spokesman Jay Carney said that
“providing a propaganda platform for Mr. Snowden runs counter
to the Russian government’s previous declarations of Russia’s
neutrality” in the case.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. was
“disappointed” that Russian officials “facilitated this
meeting” at the airport. “We still believe that Russia has
the opportunity to do the right thing and facilitate his return
to the United States,” she said.

It’s likely that Snowden will get refuge in Russia because
he’s now ready to commit not to harm U.S. interests, Vyacheslav
Nikonov, a lawmaker in the lower house of parliament from the
ruling United Russia party and part of the group that met
Snowden today, told reporters at the airport.

Participants were escorted into a restricted zone by
airport officials. Snowden seemed “very self-assured and didn’t
seem at a loss,” said Genri Reznik, a lawyer who had
represented Russia’s first president, Boris Yeltsin. Without
evidence to show that he was acting for personal gain rather
than political motivation, there’s no reason to deny him asylum,
he said by phone after meeting Snowden.

Temporary Haven

Snowden is seeking temporary haven, Tanya Lokshina, deputy
director of Human Rights Watch in Moscow, said on her Facebook
page, alongside a photograph from the meeting of the fugitive,
who hadn’t been seen in public since his arrival from Hong Kong
on a flight operated by Russia’s state-run OAO Aeroflot.

“Edward Snowden has a serious asylum claim that should be
considered fairly by Russia or any other country where he may
apply,” Dinah PoKempner, Human Rights Watch’s general counsel,
said in a statement. The New York-based group said it hasn’t
taken any other action on Snowden’s behalf.

“Human Rights Watch doesn’t provide financial support,
counseling or any other support to Snowden,” PoKempner said in
an e-mail. “We’re not a service-providing organization, like a
legal organization might be. We are reporting on what he says.
We are looking at the situation for human-rights issues and we
are commenting on human-rights issues.”

‘Threatening Behavior’

U.S. and European willingness to act outside the law
“makes it impossible” for Snowden to travel to the Latin
American countries that have offered him asylum, he said in a
statement posted on the website of WikiLeaks, which has been
assisting him since he left the U.S. for Hong Kong.

“We have witnessed an unlawful campaign by officials in
the U.S. government to deny my right to seek and enjoy this
asylum under Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights,” Snowden wrote, according to a letter sent to the
activists. “The scale of threatening behavior is without
precedent.”

The U.S. has pressured allies to deny airspace rights for
any plane carrying the fugitive. Bolivian President Evo Morales’s plane was grounded in Austria and searched after
flying from Russia on July 2. Morales said France, Italy, Spain
and Portugal had refused to allow the plane into their airspace.

With his U.S. passport revoked, Snowden can’t leave the
Moscow airport transit zone without a new travel document.

‘Tough’ Restrictions

It will take about three weeks for the Russian authorities
to decide whether to grant refuge status to Snowden, Anatoly
Kucherena, a lawyer and a member of the Public Chamber who
attended the meeting, told Bloomberg News.

Putin will probably insist on “tough” restrictions to
stop Snowden from leaking more classified U.S. information, said
Alexei Mukhin, head of the Moscow-based Center for Political
Information. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov today repeated
Russia’s offer to allow Snowden to stay under the same
conditions set out by the president.

“It is a very high priority for Putin not to hand Snowden
over to the U.S., which would seem like he’s bowing to American
demands,” said Masha Lipman, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow
Center. At the same time, Snowden’s predicament puts the Russian
leader in a “very embarrassing” situation as he doesn’t want
to cause unnecessary tensions with the U.S.

Putin has clashed with President Barack Obama’s
administration over issues including the war in Syria and U.S.
plans to develop a missile-defense shield in Europe,

Obama Disappointed

The U.S. pursuit of Snowden has emerged as a sticking point
in international relations. Obama told Chinese officials
yesterday that he was disappointed with the treatment of U.S.
demands that Hong Kong hand over Snowden, who was allowed to
flee to Russia from the Chinese self-governing territory.

Other than Russia, Snowden has sought refuge in 26
countries, most of which have spurned his requests. Russia and
China, which both rejected U.S. requests for his extradition,
have said he isn’t working with their secret services.

“We need to find a solution without worsening the already
uneasy relations with the U.S. and without putting the young man
in danger,” Olga Kostina, head of the Soprotivlenie human-rights movement and one of the participants in the airport
meeting, said by phone.